Page 47 of Winging It with You

But per usual, he ignores me and turns to Dalton instead. “Now,” he says, which prompts Dalton to whisper something to a nearby PA. Stepping forward once more, Dalton seems to be resuming his hosting responsibilities despite the chaos Clint’s arrival has caused.

“We’ve got quite the surprise planned for you, Asher.

” Dalton’s announcer voice returns. I watch in horror as the oversize television screens spring back to life one by one, revealing the last faces on earth I would want subjected to this shit storm.

“We couldn’t let your family miss out on this beautiful reunion!

” I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dalton this happy—he’s beaming and practically floating on a very visible cloud nine.

This cannot be happening.

My father has a pained expression on his face and his arms crossed, either confused or annoyed.

My younger brother looks bored, like he’d much rather be watching college basketball than whatever his dweeb of a brother has gotten himself into.

And my poor mother, with her hands clasped over her mouth, does her best but fails miserably at not letting every emotion have its turn on her face. She quickly waves when we make eye contact, but I know she knows this is the worst thing that could be happening to me.

There’s no way they would knowingly agree to something like this, and as I try to figure out what lie Clint or Dalton even told them, my legs get dangerously close to giving out.

“Asher, you and I are perfect for each other…” Clint resumes from his spot in front of Theo and me.

We most certainly are not. I think I hear my dad huff on camera.

“We make each other better.”

More like I made you a fraction less insufferable.

“And if you’ll have me…” Clint drops to his knee at the same time I drop Theo’s hand.

Fuck fuck fuck…no! What the fuck are you doing?

I scream, except not a single sound escapes my lips.

I am literally frozen in place, and as many times as I might have envisioned this moment with Clint in the past, seeing him here, a breath away from asking me a question there is no coming back from, makes me more anxious and uncomfortable than I’ve ever been before.

I don’t know what I hear first—the audience gasping or Clint stupidly asking me to marry him.

My blood feels like it’s boiling, and it’s entirely possible I might vomit out of sheer embarrassment.

A marriage proposal on live television? Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, Clint finds a way to reach a whole new level of cringe.

Theo hasn’t uttered a single word, but I can feel his eyes watching me with laser-like focus.

I open my mouth to speak, but of course, nothing comes out. Part of me feels that a bout of hysterical laughter and/or tears is coming.

That, or a long-overdue cussing out.

But instead, I stand tomato red and in painfully awkward silence as America, the audience and crew, my annoyed parents, and poor Theo watch me leer at a still-kneeling Clint.

I finally regain control of my body and glance over at Theo, who has hurt and confusion etched all over his handsome face, but still, I say nothing.

He shakes his head. “Fuck this,” he hisses and storms off.

The room starts to spin when Theo disappears from my view.

Every fiber of my being is screaming for me to chase after him, but my muscles lock and my jaw clenches instead. I realize what I’m experiencing is the start of a panic attack.

“I…I need to…” My words fail me as I crane my neck to see if I can somehow make out Theo in the distance.

After everything we’ve been through, every terrifying challenge and endless travel day and countless sleepless nights, he’s become my comfort and my home and the only person whose hand I want to be holding when life gets too hard. I need Theo.

“So…is that a yes?” Clint is still on his knee, and the callousness behind his question brings every drop of my blood to a raging boil.

“Let me get this straight,” I finally snap, the use of each limb slowly starting to return.

I take a step forward, towering over him for the first time in our relationship.

“You thought that you’d show up here unannounced, mutter some half-assed words about second chances that I can guarantee you don’t actually believe or want, and what…

I’d just come diving back into your open arms because… that would be easier for you?”

“Well, I…”

“Because, sure, Clint…I genuinely believe in second chances. I think that people and relationships are deserving of them when mistakes are made and a do-over can make all the difference.”

He smiles, and I hate how ignorant he is of this entire situation.

“But you? Us? There is nothing to do over, Clint. I threw everything I had into our relationship. I whittled away the best parts of myself so that you could shine, and even then, you…our entire relationship…was lackluster at best.” I watch his face redden in embarrassment.

I’m truly not trying to be mean, because what’s the point in that?

But he needs to hear this, because on some level, he believes with his entire heart that he is entitled to me.

“So, to answer the question you so humiliatingly asked me at some weird event you somehow orchestrated—that you shamefully included my family in…No, Clint, I will not and have no desire to marry you. Because marriage is a partnership, and you are incapable of loving anyone as much as you love yourself. Now please move so that I can go find my boyfriend…”

Boyfriend. Now seems like the worst time to get hung up on the fact that I’ve never called Theo that…

and meant it. With the conflicting emotions and the out-of-nowhere drama, even for reality television, I definitely shouldn’t be feeling butterflies the size of fighter jets in my stomach right now. Right?

Dalton takes a calculated step toward us, ensuring he’s now directly in the frame of the camera that has been rolling this entire time. “But he isn’t your boyfriend, is he, Asher?”

I have always been a firm believer that violence, especially unprovoked, is never the right answer, but I find myself praying for a little cosmic karma to help me out and wipe the smug look off Dalton’s face.

Before I can walk around Clint, he stands to block my exit.

“You are unbelievable. While you’ve been traversing the globe pretending to be this happy couple…

” He takes another step closer to me. “Did you think about how I would feel about that? Do you have any idea how humiliating this has been for me? How many people I’ve had to answer to while you’ve been off whoring yourself out to some second-rate, corn-fed…

” He grabs my arm like he did in the airport, pulling me toward him hard.

His grip on my arm sets several things in motion.

Jenn and Ellie, who have awkwardly been standing in the wake of all this, are immediately at my side staring daggers at him.

Jo, who’s looked unsure whether she should intervene, comes barreling onto the stage, followed closely by two production security officers.

I can hear my father aiming a string of obscenities in Clint’s direction through the screen.

He quickly removes his hand from my arm, putting both of them up as the security guards grab him.

“Go home, Clint,” I say quietly. I’m emotionally drained and embarrassed and need to find Theo. “There’s nothing for you here.”

As he’s escorted off the stage, I walk in the opposite direction after Theo. I have no idea where he’s run off to but I have to find him.

“Asher, wait…I don’t even know what to say,” Jo whispers as she quickly catches up to me. “I am so sor—”

“I really don’t want to hear it, Jo,” I mutter without stopping or looking at her.

I can guarantee that Jo had absolutely no knowledge of what just took place, but I am so exhausted and all I want to do is put as much distance between me and this stupid show as humanly possible.

“If you care about me at all, just let me go.”

She puts our friendship, if you can even call it that, before the show and lets me walk alone through the complicit crew members.

Where are you, Theo?